MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CORE GROUP CONSTITUTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE EQUINE INFLUENZA HELD AT 2.30 P.M. ON SATURDAY, 3RD JANUARY 2009, IN THE MEETING ROOM, ABOVE THE WEIGHING ROOM, RACE COURSE, MUMBAI:
Present:
Shivlal Daga, Esquire - Chairman, Co-ordination Committee, TAI
Mr. Mohan Thakur - Committee Member, RWITC Ltd.
Mr. N.H.S. Mani - Deputy Secretary, RWITC Ltd.
Mr. Geoffrey B. Nagpal - Representative of WIRHOA Ltd.
Diwan Arun Nanda - Representative of WIRHOA Ltd.
Mr. Shiven Surendranath - Representative of WIRHOA Ltd.
Mr. Pesi Shroff - Representative of WITA Ltd.
Having been duly proposed and seconded, Diwan Arun Nanda took the Chair for the Meeting.
Mr. Zavaray S. Poonawalla, Dr. Anil Kumar and Dr. D. Swaminathan were granted leave of absence from the meeting.
The Minutes of the Meeting held on 22nd December 2008 were approved and confirmed.
At the outset, the Core Group noted the resumption of racing at Delhi and Kolkata. It was noted that the horses at these centres were affected by Equine Influenza after the outbreak of Equine Influenza at the Pune Race Course yet they resumed racing before the RWITC could do so.
The Deputy Secretary informed the meeting that at the behest of Mr. Shivlal Daga, he had spoken to Mr. Shujaat Hussain, the Senior Stipendiary Steward at the Delhi Race Club after the first day of racing in Delhi, after the outbreak of Equine Influenza and Mr. Hussain had informed that there was absolutely no problem and all the horses participated in the races on the first day, performed exactly like before and there was no deterioration in their performance. The Deputy Secretary also stated that Mr. Hussain had visited the stables on the very next day morning to see the condition of runners on the first day and all the runners were sound and none of them were coughing etc. Letter dated 1st January 2009 from Col. R.S. Gupta, Senior Veterinary Officer, Delhi Race Club was tabled and noted.
It was noted that Mr. Shivlal Daga, Mr. Geoffrey Nagpal, Mr. Khushroo N. Dhunjibhoy and Dr. F.F. Wadia had met the Commissioner, Animal Husbandry in Pune on 26th December and submitted representations regarding the notification issued by the Government of Maharashtra banning movement of horses and racing. The Commissioner was very receptive of the request made by the abovementioned gentlemen and he ordered an immediate inspection of all affected equidae at various studs, race course and Matheran. He had stated that if the report showed no horses with clinical signs of Equine Flu, he would recommend to the Department Secretary, Agricultural Ministry, Government of Maharashtra to rescind the notification. He stated that he would do this in a time bound period of about 7 days. It was noted that the representation was being pursued and it was hopeful that the Government may relax the ban imposed on racing and movement tentatively with effect from mid-January 2009.
Mr. P. Shroff joined the meeting at this stage.
A discussion took place at which time it was noted that about 1000 horses were working including 205 on the inner sand. It was felt that the situation has improved considerably and therefore it would be in the fitness of things to gear up for the commencement of the Mumbai Meeting 2008-2009.
On being asked Mr. Pesi Shroff stated that in his opinion, horses will be ready to race by 1st February 2009. During further discussion, it was gathered that with the exception of a few trainers, majority of trainers were in favour of commencing the racing on 1st February 2009.
With an assumption of a relaxation of the ban imposed by the Government on movement and racing as stated above, it was felt that all efforts be made to commence the truncated Mumbai Meeting 2008-2009 by 1st February 2009. Mr. Shivlal Daga mentioned that as per the Racing Fixtures, this Club was scheduled to race on 31st January 2009 and 1st February 2009, and considering the feedback from Delhi and Kolkata, Mumbai Racing Season should commence on 31st January 2009. The other Members present concurred with the suggestion of Mr. Daga.
Thereafter a discussion took place regarding framing of prospectus for the Mumbai Meeting at which time Mr Geoffrey Nagpal mentioned that the WIRHOA Ltd has already written to the Chairman of the Stewards to consider constituting a Core Group comprising of Stewards, representatives from WIRHOA Ltd and WITA Ltd and the Handicapper to frame the prospectus for the Mumbai Meeting. The Deputy Secretary mentioned that this letter of WIRHOA Ltd was being placed before the Stewards of the Club at their meeting to be held on 8th January 2008.
Thereafter a discussion took place at which time it was felt that the prospectus for atleast the first two days of racing should be finalised and made available to the owners and trainers so that they could prepare their horses. It was felt that for the first two days only there should be six races on each day and one race for each Class and one baby race. The distance of these races should be five and six furlongs. It was decided to recommend to the Stewards of the Club to finalise prospectus for the first two days for the abovementioned basis. It was felt necessary for the Owners' Association to ask the trainers to start racing from 31st January 2009. However, no trainers be forced to enter their horses and it would be left to the individual trainers to take a decision in this matter and those trainers who intend to start racing their horses later were free to do so.
Thereafter, a discussion took place regarding shifting of horses from Pune to Mumbai. It was decided that once the ban on movement of horses is removed, the horses should start shifting to Mumbai as the infrastructure was ready in Mumbai.
A discussion took place after which it was decided that all the trainers be informed that in case of fever, cough, nasal discharge etc. the trainers concerned should immediately report the matter to the Senior Veterinary Officer with the name of the horse which was coughing and / or which has fever and / or which has nasal discharge so that the Senior Veterinary Officer can look into the case and take necessary action for the recovery of the horse.
Arising out of a discussion, it was decided that the stable area at the Pune Race Course especially the Empress Garden be kept clean even when the horses were in Mumbai and stable area should be disinfected before the horses shift from Mumbai to Pune.
As regards, water dips in Mumbai, it was noted that work on these dips were in progress and would be ready in due course.
Mr. Pesi Shroff mentioned that Dr. Swaminathan has issued various advisory notices to the trainers prohibiting endoscopy, stomach tubing, any other procedures involving the respiratory tract, etc. Since all the horses have recovered and there are no clinical signs for Equine Influenza in the last six weeks, the Pune Race Course is free of any epidemic including Equine Influenza. Therefore the Senior Veterinary Officer should issue a circular to that effect. Mr. Daga mentioned that since the Senior Veterinary Officer cannot issue the circular on his own without the approval of the Stewards, this matter will be taken up at the Meeting of the Stewards of the Club to be held on 8th January 2009.
Mr. Pesi Shroff thereafter tabled quotations for equipment to collect nails and sharp metal objects from tracks. It was noted that there were two types of magnetic equipment to pick up nails and sharp objects from the track (separately for grass and sand) and the cost for the same was approximately Rs. 2,50,000/-. It was decided that if these magnetic equipment are useful, atleast one of them which was more suitable may be procured first and the second one could be procured at a later date after using the first one successfully.
There being no other points, the meeting terminated.
